May 19, 2017

Off-Grid? Not So Fast, Pilgrim

And here you thought you owned your property. Well, you don't; you rent it, in the form of property taxes. And the cities can tell you what you can and cannot do on "your" property. In Portland, for example, the city passed a tree ordinance: before you cut or "significantly alter" a tree on "your" property, you have to get permission from the city - for a fee, of course. And if you remove a tree, you are required to buy and plant a replacement from the city's list of approved trees. If you don't, they'll come out and do it for you, then bill you another $500. They claim that it's necessary to "preserve the city canopy".

Want to go off-grid? You can't, as a woman in Cape Coral, Florida has discovered:

Robin Speronis had been living in an off-grid home for many years without incident, until she was interviewed by a local FOX affiliate in November of 2013. Shortly thereafter, the city of Cape Coral tagged a “notice to vacate” on her property, due to multiple code violations, all of which stem from the fact that her home isn’t connected to water, sewage, or the electrical grid. The city has tried to argue that she is in violation of the International Property Maintenance Code for relying on rainwater and solar panels, instead of utilities.

And the city won in court. The judge ruled that although she doesn't have to use water, sewer, or electricity, she still has to have her home connected to those utilities.

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose, Nothing don't mean nothing honey if it ain't free, now now.